End to mill strike is nowhere in sight

C.H. Guenther & Son Inc., union are not budging.

Updated 7:29 pm, Friday, June 24, 2011

Photo: ANDREW BUCKLEY, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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C.H. Guenther & Son Inc. employee Maria Martinez gives a thumbs up to a passing car while picketing outside of the flour mill on South Alamo Street. June 25 marked the two-month anniversary of the strike.

C.H. Guenther & Son Inc. employee Maria Martinez gives a thumbs up to a passing car while picketing outside of the flour mill on South Alamo Street. June 25 marked the two-month anniversary of the strike.

Photo: ANDREW BUCKLEY, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

End to mill strike is nowhere in sight

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Two months into the strike at San Antonio flourmill C.H. Guenther & Son Inc., neither the company nor the union for warehouse and production workers is willing to budge from its position.

Workers at the mill, known for its Pioneer Brand of pancake, gravy and biscuit mixes, went on strike April 25 to force Guenther to raises wages to offset costlier medical coverage that takes affect next year.

“We had an idea at the beginning that this might be a long, drawn-out thing,” said Hugo Flores, a business agent and organizer for Teamsters Local 657, which represents the Guenther workers. “Obviously, the company is prepared to drag this out.”

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Asked what it would take to get the strike settled, Guenther Senior Vice President Steve Phillips said: “That's up to them. We made our last, best and final offer a long time ago.”

The last time the two sides met was May 19, when federal mediation ended after only about one hour. No further negotiations, with or without a mediator, are scheduled.

There isn't even a consensus on the number of workers on strike. The workers say it's about 95, while Phillips pegged the figure at closer 75. About 140 employees are covered under the labor agreement, though not all are members of the union. The company has hired an undisclosed number of replacement workers.

Both sides have posted videos on YouTube to publicize their positions.

The union, meanwhile, filed with the National Labor Relations Board an unfair labor practices charge alleging the company engaged in illegal video surveillance of striking workers.

“There was some videotaping going on, but it was within the parameters of the law,” Phillips said.

That video, which he said shows workers trespassing on company property, is not posted on YouTube.

The union later added another charge over a May 1 incident involving a Guenther supervisor who shot himself in the leg. San Antonio police said the incident was not related to the strike, but the union claims workers were “unlawfully threatened.”

“That's preposterous,” Phillips said.

Guenther has since reiterated to its employees that company policy prohibits firearms on its property, he said.

The NLRB has yet to rule on the charges.

The company and workers entered into a three-year contract in April 2010. The agreement was reopened in April 2011, under terms of the contract, to negotiate wages and benefits for the final two years.

Guenther offered a 50-cents-an-hour increase in wages starting May 1 of this year, though workers would not receive a raise next year. (The company increased wages by 40 cents to $14.46 an hour under the first year of the contract.)

The company also proposed raising premiums that workers pay for family medical coverage from $11 to $35 a week starting Jan. 1 when a new medical plan takes effect with unlimited prescription drug, surgical and hospital benefits.

The higher premiums, though, would mean workers would see $4 less each week in their paychecks, even with the 50-cents-an-hour raise. Medical costs for the third year of the contract won't be determined until fall 2012. Guenther is self-insured.

Workers continue to picket the mill near South Alamo and Probandt streets, though Phillips said he's noticed fewer picketers recently.

The union is supporting strikers with 10 hours of pay per week, Flores said.

“We're going to stay out here as long as it takes to prove that we are doing the right thing for our families and for the benefit of each other,” said Mike Campa, 42, an eight-year production worker. “Right now, both of us are losing out.”